Bus Stop
by Akane Naomi
Summary: Taking the bus is a continuous cycle. Starts from one bus stop, ends in another and starts up again. Just like love. Sometimes it ends with one person, but a new love will be found along the way. Love stops at every opportunity.


**_A/N: Hey there everyone! It's been awhile since I've updated any of my stories. Happy 11/11/11!_**

**__**_This is based from the manga, "Harayuki Bus." I love every story in this series. It's completely different from "falling in love with someone at school," because most of the characters take the bus to/from school. Why do I love that idea? It's because it's something I can relate to. I take the bus and train to and from school and there are a lot of people I meet along the way.  
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_"thoughts"  
><em>"talking"

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><p><strong><em>Bus Stop<em>**

**__**_Taking the bus is a continuous cycle. Starts from one bus stop, ends in another and starts up again. Just like love. Sometimes it ends with one person, but a new love will be found along the way. Love stops at every opportunity.  
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_"A skateboard."_ The blond girl thought to herself as she glanced towards the window beside her. Her eyes continued to watch the blond boy who seemed to be enjoying himself as he occasionally tapped his foot on the sidewalk for more speed. _"It looks like fun…too bad I don't know how to ride one." _

She leaned closer to the window just as the bus wheeled over to a bumpy road, causing all passengers to nearly fall over, or in her unfortunate case, accidentally bump her head against the window, since she was sitting in a passenger seat. "Ow…" She winced slightly, her hand pressed against her throbbing head. She sighed, muttering something to herself when she glanced at the window again to see the boy on his skateboard staring at her.

She froze. She had hoped that he didn't see what had just happened, but the expression on his face turned from surprise to a soft chuckle, making her face flush in embarrassment. Thank goodness she was riding the bus. _"That was embarrassing,"_ she blushed as she slowly watched the boy fall farther and farther behind on his skateboard as the bus sped along the street. Not that it was impossible for someone to keep up with a bus. She sighed, "I was laughed at…"

"Namine," She turned her head to see a familiar face smiling at her, "good morning."

"Ah, morning." She smiled back at the brunette girl.

The look on Olette's face changed as she noticed the handkerchief in Namine's hand. "Are you going to be okay today? Weren't you feeling sick last time?"

"Oh yeah," Namine's expression fell into a half hearted smile, "I'm feeling a little better, thanks." The boy next to her tapped her shoulder. He looked like one of Olette's friends, but she only saw him around when they took the bus. His uniform was from another school. Once the brunette girl turned away, Namine's gaze went back to the window, waiting until it was her time to get off.

_I'm Namine Ogawa, it's my first year of high school. Thanks to my dad's job, we moved from Traverse Town to Twilight Town. Back at home, I used to walk to school, but I've decided to go to my new school by taking the bus._

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><p><em>"Another morning of school…"<em> The blond girl frowned as she glanced at the buildings that passed by. She couldn't wait until it was the weekend. Her new home was nowhere close to her old one. Traverse Town was this Victorian-age place with three major districts, alleyways and caves. She missed the way the self-lighting candles lit up the town at night. She got her inspiration from nightly walks like that.

She clenched the small white handkerchief in her hand, coughing slightly.

_ Being homesick made me feel even more depressed. I get sick because of it._

"I shouldn't have gotten a seat above the tires…" Namine scolded herself as she felt her head starting to spin. It would probably help if she stopped gazing at the floor, it was making her head hurt and her vision blurry. She inhaled slowly, opening her eyes to see the familiar blond haired boy on his skateboard not too far ahead from the bus. _"Ah…is that the same boy from yesterday?"_ At the traffic light, the boy skidded his board to a stop, just as the bus rolled up beside him.

Her heart thumped nervously for whatsoever reason. It was that feeling most people got when they see someone familiar, even if it was someone they didn't know personally. There he was, waiting for the crosswalk, standing two feet away from her window. Gosh, that made her feel like a stalker, watching him like that. _"I wonder if he'll notice me today…"_ Her fingers tapped the window pretending she was going to catch his attention._ "As if…"_ she thought as she tapped the window again in boredom. By coincidence, the short tapping sound her fingers just made, was loud enough for him to look over.

She froze. This was the same stupid scenario again. Catching her in the middle of something embarrassing. His gaze towards her looked curious, uncertain if she was staring at him as well. She could feel her face burning as she quickly turned away. _"That..that startled me!"_ Her heart was beating fast. _"Calm down Namine…"_ she began to breathe slowly, hoping the bus would start moving again. But it still remained in the same spot, waiting for the traffic light and she couldn't help but slowly glance back to see if he was still standing there.

Now the look on his face was unreadable, but he was still watching her, waiting to see what else she was going to do. Namine couldn't stand the awkward stare off, she had to do something. _"I guess…I could just…"_ She lifted her hand, shaking nervously as she waved, hello.

He blinked in surprise. Suddenly, like magic, the look on his face turned into a cheerful smile. Then the bus began to move; the traffic light must've turned green. She watched him skate across the crosswalk, waving back to her as the bus quickly rode past him. "I can't see him now…" she thought, still happy that she finally initiated some sort of communication with him. Then a slight frown fell on her face, "I'm like a little kid waving at a stranger."

She reached for the handkerchief that had fallen on her lap earlier when she waved to the boy, realizing her headache was gone. "Huh…at least I don't feel as sick now."

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><p>It was the same pattern the next few days. Them waving at each other. She sat in her usual spot on the bus and waited for the boy on his skateboard to show up. In seconds, he was skating alongside her bus. Namine smiled seeing him again. Only this time, he had something on his hand…a puppet?<em> "Huh?"<em> She watched him hold up the hand with the Moogle puppet, waving to her as well, when he made a silly face to make her giggle.

_Every morning, I began looking for him, hoping he'd show up on his skateboard; waiting on the other side of the window. At least, that made the bus trip less depressing from before._

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><p>"It gets packed when it rains…" Namine thought disappointedly as she stepped onto the bus, looking at the passengers already sitting and standing before her. "All the seats are taken." She glanced towards the window, <em>"I may not see him today…he won't notice if I'm here."<em> Here, as in standing in the middle of the crowd. The bus was about to pass by the area where she usually saw him.

She inched her way through, hoping to get close to the window, moving around the people that crowded around her. "I've got to at least see him…" She was almost there, but there was someone standing in her way. She blinked in disbelief recognizing the person instantly.

The boy turned away; he clearly didn't notice her as his gaze went back to looking out the windows. It was as though he was looking for someone. Namine almost wanted to touch him to ensure she wasn't dreaming. This was the real thing - he was standing in front of her. Just as he turned to look back towards her, she quickly grabbed the hood of her jacket and coughed nervously into her handkerchief. _"W…Why am I hiding?"_ She must've looked silly doing that just now. _"I can't just go up to him and go, 'I'm the one watching you from the other side of the window,' or, 'it's me, remember?' That's enough to make me sound like a stalker."_ She closed her eyes, _"Why is he on the bus! Oh…yeah, it's raining."_ Her eyes slowly glanced back at him. He still had his skateboard in one hand, making her smile, _"It's kind of funny how we're in the same place…not outside the window, but in the same bus."_

"Radiant Gardens, Girls Academy…Radiant Gardens, Girls Academy." The intercom of the bus announced as it went into a complete stop, doors opening for passengers to leave and new passengers to get on.

_"That's my stop."_ Namine frantically searched for her bus pass, realizing she wasn't holding it. She checked her pockets. Empty. It wasn't in her schoolbag either. _"Ah, where did I put it?"_ She panicked.

Unbeknown to her, the blond boy was watching her, wondering what she was doing. Then he noticed something on the floor that looked like a bus pass. He bent down to pick it up, "You dropped this." He spoke, reaching out to her as she looked up from her bag.

They both stared at each other. He recognized her and she was nervous now that he found out. Stunned that they were right in front of each other, in person. The boy was about to say something until Olette tapped her on the shoulder and spoke, "We better hurry Namine, we're blocking the exit if we don't move."

"Ah, I'm sorry." Namine bowed her head at the blond boy as she gently took her bus pass from him, following after the brunette girl. She didn't bother to look back. Her face blushed the moment she stepped off the bus as he continued to watch her walk away until the bus drove far enough he couldn't see her anymore. Once she knew the bus was far enough, she turned her head and sighed, _"Next time, I'll talk to him when I meet him again."_ She closed her eyes, clenching her pass close to her, _"So please let it rain again."_

"And it looks like today is nothing but sun, sun, sun! In fact, sunny days for the rest of the week!" The girl cheered excitedly, "This is Yuffie, reporting from Moogle Station-"

Namine pressed "exit" on her cell phone. She wanted to listen to the radio for the weather news, only to be disappointed. Of course, she would be really lucky if things went her way._ "I guess it won't rain for awhile…"_ she thought to herself, gazing out the window again,_ "but at least I got a seat on the bus and I can see him from here."_ She could feel her heart fluttering nervously as the bus neared neared towards the stop she usually saw the boy at. The doors of the bus opened, letting passengers on and off the bus, but she paid no attention. _"Where is he?"_ She frowned slightly, looking in both directions, hoping she hadn't missed him.

"Um…" She heard a male voice calling for her attention. Someone was standing by her seat. She stopped looking for the boy and decided to turn towards the stranger. Her expression froze, realizing he was no stranger. The blond boy she was looking for was standing next to her, looking like he was about to say something. "Uh-"

But just before he could actually say something, they were interrupted by someone. "AH! Roxas!" They both glanced over to see a dark, short haired girl waving at the boy as he stood dumbfounded. He seemed startled to see a familiar face, "Xion...You're here too?"

The girl grinned, patting the empty seat next to her, "It's open here, hurry up and come over!"

Roxas hesitated for a moment. Without looking at the blond girl, he started walking towards the dark haired girl and slumped in the seat next to her, resting his school bag on the floor. "This is rare," the girl beamed, "don't you usually ride your skateboard?"

"Eh? Ah…yeah…well…." He was giving Namine short glances as she leaned towards the side of her seat in confusion. I guess she wouldn't blame him. They looked like good friends and it would be strange for him to say no just to sit next to a girl he hardly knew. _"But wasn't he trying to say something?"_ She wondered, question marks floating around her head. This was going to bother her now. If only that girl didn't interrupt…

"Oh, hey," The dark haired girl turned to Roxas, her voice wasn't too loud, but the bus was quiet enough for everyone to hear, "did you know, there's a person here who speaks with a Traverse Town accent?"

He nodded, trying to show some sort of interest in the conversation, "Is that so? A guy?"

"Nope. A girl," his friend continued, "she goes to Radiant Gardens Academy. If you listen to her speak, the words sound different. It stands out. Like it's all fancy and polite."

_"Is she talking about me?"_ Namine's face flushed slightly, hearing this conversation about her.

"Remember when our accents got laughed at when we went on a school trip to Traverse Town? They're hard to deal with, people like them." Xion sighed. "Just because we're from Twilight Town."

The blond boy spoke, "Yeah, it's prejudice, you know?"

"You were upset too!" She pointed at him, "Saying you don't want to talk to girls from Traverse Town anymore."

"Well…" he paused. He spoke softly, but Namine still heard him, "it's a little bit hard to deal with, I guess."

Oh. So that was it. Something inside her felt broken. At that moment, Namine leaned back to her seat, urging herself not to look at them and gazed at the floor in disappointment. It hurt. Hearing him say that, even if it wasn't directly towards her.

The bus stopped and doors from both ends began to open. "Radiant Gardens, Girls Academy…" the intercom began, repeating two more times.

"Oh shoot. That girl from Traverse Town was on." The dark haired girl gasped as she covered her mouth. She leaned close to Roxas. "You think she heard us?"

"Perfect timing." Namine mumbled. She couldn't wait until she was out the door. Unfortunately, it meant having to pass by both of them, since her seat was closest to the front entrance of the bus and it would be a waste to walk towards the back. It was crowded full of passengers getting on and off anyways.

"There, that's her." Xion whispered, nudging Roxas as she saw the blond girl walking towards them.

"Eh?" He looked over, much to his shock to see that the girl he had been waving to the past few days was the very same girl they were talking about. The look on Namine's face was blank, but her eyes were almost near tears. She gave him one last look and turned away. This was bad. He stood up instantly, wanting to say something, but she didn't bother looking back. She quickly got off the bus to catch up to the brunette girl he saw before. He wanted to smack himself in the face. "No way…" he muttered.

Namine rubbed her eyes with her handkerchief as Olette sent her worried glances while they walked. _"It's not like I like him or anything yet…I'm not sad,"_ Namine repeated in her mind,_ "I was just disappointed."_ She inhaled slowly.

"Namine…" Olette knew she didn't want to talk about it. She reached out to touch her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Olette," she tried to reassure her by giving her a small smile, "It was a good thing I didn't go talk to him."

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><p>"You're up early."<p>

Namine almost jumped at the sound of her brother's voice. She was sitting on the stair steps, putting her shoes on. "Yeah, I was planning on catching the early bus."

Cloud paused. "That's good. They say it's going to snow today."

"Eh?" She stared at him in disbelief. That would mean…she would run into that boy again. If she hurried, she could catch earlier bus and avoid him easily.

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><p><em>"Then again. There's no reason to leave this early…"<em> she told herself, _"I was planning on avoiding him anyways. I could sit in a different seat or take a bus at a different time."_ She could do that. She could restrain herself. It would be easy. Her fingers tapped impatiently against the window as she muttered something about not looking out the window. She closed her eyes for the next few minutes. The bus stopped and she opened her eyes, unable to keep her own goal._ "He's not going to be there…"_ A voice in her head spoke. So that meant there would be no harm in looking out the window right? He wasn't going to be standing out there. It was way too early. Namine quickly looked over and smiled in relief. He wasn't standing outside, just as she expected. Then the image of the girl from yesterday popped in her head and her smile fell. She shook her head._ "Forget it, I don't know what that girl said, but not all girls are like that."_

_"Just like how all guys aren't jerks…"_ She frowned, slightly shaking. She didn't want to believe he really hated everyone from her town. It was stupid anyways if he did._"What do I know about him? I don't even remember his name. All I know is…his smile…"_ Oh how she wanted to smack herself for being so cheesy. Love made her feel silly sometimes. The bus began to move again and it was only for a moment when she decided to give one last look out her window. "It's not like…" She trailed off, before noticing something that caught her attention. Someone was on a skateboard. "It's snowing outside, why would someone-" She stopped mid-sentence. The blond boy was riding his skateboard, trying to catch up to her bus. "Wha?" He caught her gaze and held something up with his hand, waving it.

She chuckled. It was his moogle puppet she saw a few days ago. Seeing the smile on her face, made him smile until she stopped herself, _"I can't just pretend yesterday didn't happen."_

From the look on his face, it seemed he was thinking the same thing, because he was motioning for her to get off the bus so he could talk to her.

Namine frowned. Maybe she didn't want to hear what he had to say. The bus continued on, passing two more stops. She figured by this time he gave up, but to her shock, he was still skateboarding after her bus. She watched him, stunned that he was determined to keep following her. "No way…" She couldn't believe it. Another stop passed and she sighed, knowing that it wasn't fair to ignore him like this.

Roxas was breathing heavily as he pushed himself to keep going. Fortunately, he could see the bus had stopped ahead of him as a crowd of people got off. He frowned. It looked like she still hadn't gotten off. He was almost frustrated because now it seemed pointless, but he knew if he could prove he wasn't a quitter, it would change everything.

"Whoa-" He nearly skated into a blond haired girl and skidded to a stop, realizing he just passed her. He looked back, making sure it was her. Namine gave him a small smile. So she "did" get off at the stop. There she was, standing under her umbrella, waiting for him to say something. He walked over to her, skateboard in hand and finally spoke, "I'm sorry." His head bowed lightly, something she wasn't expecting, "I said something yesterday that hurt your feelings and I don't hate everyone that's from Traverse Town. I'm sorry for not saying it sooner."

It was quiet between them. Then he heard the sounds of her footsteps. She must've walked away. Now he was sure she still hated him.

Roxas glanced at his clothes, realizing snow wasn't falling on him anymore. She was holding the umbrella over both of them. "I'm sorry too," She said softly, she wasn't looking at him, rather her focus was on the ground, "I…I didn't give you a chance to explain." A hint of pink appeared on her face. He started to smile. She was blushing.

She stepped back a little, surprised when he held his hand out, "I'm Roxas. Roxas Matsumoto."

"Roxas." She repeated as they shook hands. "I'm Namine Ogawa."

He began to smile. They hardly knew each other, but something about today was going to change that. "Uh…how about I walk you to school?" Roxas asked, only to feel like he said something really stupid. This girl's perfectly capable of going to school and he was making it sound as if she were a little kid. "Actually, that sounded-"

"That," Namine interrupted, as Roxas gazed at her, "that sounds nice." And she smiled. She used to dread going to her new school, feeling homesick and all. She hated feeling sick, but now, maybe Roxas could change that. She glanced at him again as he in turn, looked back at her. She blushed in embarrassment, making him chuckle.

That is, if Roxas wasn't going to make her feel lovesick first…

_**Bus Stop/End**_

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><p><em><strong>AN: It's a bit different from what I usually write, but hopefully it was still a good read for you guys. I didn't want to make it too cliche where Namine and Roxas kiss like it's a fairytale ending. I mean, they hardly know each other in this story, haha. But I definitely wanted to imply that they would end up being a couple. :] **_

___**For anyone who was wondering why I wrote up Twilight Town when Namine goes to a school in Radiant Gardens, I did that on purpose. I felt Destiny Islands and Twilight Town were being overused. So I figured since the original story had the girl go to an all girls academy, Radiant Gardens would be a nice fit. Plus, if you're a commuter, you should understand that the bus doesn't just go in one town or city. It travels all over places. Though I guess using the train would've made more sense. Oh well! :] **_

_**I hope you guys enjoyed the story! Please leave me a review of what you thought, I would appreciate it! Even constructive criticism, random thoughts, jokes, hellos, glomps, etc. I'll be sure to reply. **__**(Unless if you don't have a login (anonymous reviewer), just know I humbly thank you)**_.


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